Making Sense of the Plantation of Ulster...Making Sense of the Plantation of Ulster –continued from page 47 The six escheated (or confiscated) counties to be planted were Armagh,

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www.wise&fhs.org,

Volume'16,'Number'4' Denver,'Colorado' October,'November,'December'2015'

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Making Sense of the Plantation of Ulster Stumped? Here are the Basic Facts of a Pivotal Event

—Zoe von Ende Lappin

! The Plantation of Ulster – how often you have heard about it in your genealogical travels! But what, ex-

actly, was it? How do your Irish, Scots, English and even Welsh ancestors fit into that scheme of the early 17th century? It’s a difficult subject, indeed, complicated by the usual shortage of records pertaining to ordinary people, by conflicts of class and religion, archaic language and a ten-dency for even the esteemed modern writ-ers to become bogged down in details, frustrating the most determined researcher. Even the term plantation can be mislead-ing. In this context, it means a colony or new settlement initiated not by the settlers but by an outside agency – the British government. The clearest explanation I’ve come upon is

William J. Roulston’s description in his guide, Researching Scots-Irish Ancestors; The Essential Genea-logical Guide to Early Modern Ulster, 1600-1800, (2005 and later). It’s not too strong to state that every-one working in this area, and in the migration of the Scots-Irish to America in the 18th century, should have this book.

Combining Roulston’s descriptions with those of others writing on the subject, here are some points to consider as you wade into the subject. First, a definition of Ulster: It is one of the four historic provinces of Ireland, occupying the northeast corner of the island. Most of it today is Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom. In 1603, the British government –led by King James VI and I – embarked on the scheme to populate six of the nine counties in the province with English and Scottish settlers. It lasted until 1625 roughly; some sources put the end in the early 1640s. It was motivated by the perceived need to establish a British colo-ny (Protestant, mainly) as a defense against the Catholic Spanish and prevent rebellion as well as to prop-agate Protestant beliefs and subjugate the so-called barbarian Irish.

—Continued on page 50

W.I.S.E. Words October, November, December 2015

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President’s Message

I hope you had a wonderful summer filled with opportunities for vacations and family get-togethers. W.I.S.E. members were busy during the third quarter, providing volunteer support for the Colorado Irish Festival, held in Clement Park, Littleton, on July 10-12, 2015. And, we held our summer Welsh Seminar in the Denver Public Library (DPL) Conference Center, featuring nationally known speaker, Bert J. Rawlins, on July 25, 2015.

As we head into the fall, we are preparing for the holiday season and an abbreviated return to our monthly membership meeting schedule. I say ab-breviated, because there is no meeting in Novem-ber since our preferred monthly meeting date always conflicts with the Thanksgiving holiday. And, of course, there is no meeting in December because of Christmas, opting instead to once again hold our annual W.I.S.E. holiday social, which this year will be on December 5, 2015.

In the previous paragraph I mentioned the Thanksgiving holiday. Did you know that the na-tional Thanksgiving holiday in North America, including Canada, has its roots in English tradi-tions dating from the Protestant Reformation and the Harvest Festival, which in the United Kingdom is traditionally held on or near the Sunday of the Harvest Moon? It’s also interesting to note that the Thanksgiving holiday celebrated in North America is now being adopted in the United Kingdom, with turkey sales increasing by 95 per-cent in 2014 as a result of its popularity. Thanks-giving is also the time of year when we traditionally gather together as families, with many of our family members joining us from throughout the United States. As such, this would be an ideal opportunity for you to engage those family members in discussions about family histo-ry and genealogy, both to increase their awareness and to advance your research.

Ever since I was elected as president of W.I.S.E. in January, I have been excited about having this

opportunity to influence positive change in a fami-ly history organization that is already well respect-ed on a local and national basis. Although I have a lot of ideas on how to improve our administrative procedures and programs, etc., I quickly learned that I couldn’t rush the process! You’d think that after all my years as a manager and administrator, I would know better than to expect my fellow board members to eat the entire cake in one sitting, rather than one slice at a time. I also recognize that it’s important to include our membership in the process, so as not to make deci-sions and changes that impact them without their input and approval.

Our next W.I.S.E. Family History Society Annual General Meeting is scheduled on Saturday, January 23, 2016. I would like to use it as an op-portunity for our members to provide input on whether they are satisfied with our current pro-grams and activities, or are there things we could do to improve them? I realize that it’s not possible, or practical, for our entire membership to attend the annual meeting in order to share their thoughts and ideas. So, if you can’t be there, I encourage you to share them with me in an email, preferably in advance of our annual meeting. We are also exploring the possibility of soliciting your thoughts and ideas in an on-line survey. If we can bring everything together to do that in a timely manner, we will notify everyone by email as to where the survey can be accessed for you to pro-vide your structured input.

So, all that remains is for me to wish you all a wonderful holiday season and continued good health and prosperity.

—Allan M. Turner!

Membership Report —Sandy Breed

Welcome to those who joined W.I.S.E. Family History Society recently:

May 2015 Stephanie Hayward Jim and Sheryl Johnson Sandy Kline Donna Lynden Mark, Angela, Brandon and Brittany Wells !


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W.I.S.E. Family History Society

W.I.S.E. Family History Society is dedicated to research in Wales, Ireland, Scotland, England, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. Attention is also directed to the emigration and immigration of these peoples as well as heraldry and one-name studies. Monthly meetings are generally held the fourth Saturday of most months at the Central Denver Public Library, 7th Floor. Membership is open to anyone with interest in family history and genealogy. Membership dues for the calendar year are $12 for an individual or $15 for a family living at the same address. The W.I.S.E. Family History Society publishes W.I.S.E. Words four times per year, and a subscription is in-cluded with membership dues. Add $5 to the dues if you want a printed copy of the newsletter mailed to you.

© 2000-2015, W.I.S.E. Family History Society, P.O. Box 40658, Denver, CO 80204-0658

All rights reserved. Visit our website at www.wise-fhs.org.

Officers and Board Members President ......................................................... Allan Turner ............................................................ [email protected]!

Vice President ..................................... Sylvia Tracy-Doolos

Secretary ........................................................... Milly Jones

Treasurer ...................................................... Laurie Ramos !

Past President .................................... Barbara Fines Price!

Membership .................................................... Sandy Breed!Members’ Interests Coordinator .............. Megan Koepsell!

Publicity Coordinator ............................ JoAnn DeFilippo!Archivist ....................................................... Elaine Osborn

CCGS Delegate ................................................ Bill Hughes

Hospitality Coordinator ................................ Roberta Dice

Webmaster ...................................................... Allan Turner!

Member-at-Large ................................. Sandy Carter-Duff

Newsletter Staff Newsletter Editor ...................................... Nyla Cartwright .............................................. [email protected] Assistant Newsletter Editor .................. Mary Anne Larson

Book Review Editor .......................... Zoe von Ende Lappin

Technical Resource Editor ............ Sandra Keifer-Roberts Proofreaders ...................... Jack and Zoe von Ende Lappin

Distribution Coordinator ................................... Sue Clasen

Country Editors Wales ........................................................ Nancy McCurdy

Ireland .......................................................... Thyria Wilson Scotland ...................................................... Diane Barbour

England .................................................................... Vacant

In This Issue

Making Sense of the Plantation of Ulster .............. 47

President’s Message ................................................ 48

Membership Report ................................................ 48

Treasurer’s Report .................................................. 49

Correction to Program Schedule in Last Issue ..... 50

New Volunteers on Board ...................................... 51

Help Wanted ............................................................ 51 ................................................................................. 38 CCGS Delegate Report ........................................... 51

Colorado Springs Field Trip .................................. 52

Welsh Research –Tricky but Worthwhile .............. 52

W.I.S.E. Booth at the Colorado Irish Festival a Success ................................................................... 53 Get your English On! ............................................. 54

Tech Talk ................................................................ 55

The Great Hunger ................................................... 56

Scottish Clearances ................................................. 58

Book Reviews .......................................................... 60

Member Profiles ...................................................... 63

W.I.S.E. Program Schedule ................................... 64

Treasurer’s Report —Laurie Ramos

Checking and savings $10,634.66 Petty cash $ 50.00 Cash balance on January 22, 2015 $10,684.66 Deposits cleared $ 8,639.81 Checks cleared ($ 8,494.95) Balance as of July 31, 2015 $10,829.52!


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Correction to Program Schedule in Last Issue

The listings in the program schedule for September and October were transposed in the last issue of W.I.S.E. Words. It should have read:

September 26, 2015: Understanding the British Army - Ed Storey.

October 24, 2015:'World War I Heirloom Sharing.

It has been corrected in this issue. Apologizes for any confusion this might have caused."

Making Sense of the Plantation of Ulster –continued from page 47 The six escheated (or confiscated) counties to be planted were Armagh, Cavan, Coleraine (later Londonderry), Donegal, Fermanagh and Tyrone. Their land had been confiscated from the Irish chieftains. In addition, private plantations were instituted in Counties Antrim and Down, where the English already were in power, and Monaghan was never part of the scheme be-cause a British-model land system was already in place there. Approximately 12,000 Scots, primari-ly Lowlanders, and English were settled in the six escheated counties, with another 4,000 or so in Antrim and Down. (Note that historic Ulster had nine counties; modern Northern Ireland has only six – Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan now are part of the Republic of Ireland.)

The new landowners of English and Scots origin were called undertakers and most were Protestant. (A notable except occurred in Antrim where a Catholic Scot, Randal MacDonnell, got more than 300,000 acres in 1603.) In the government scheme, land also went to servitors, mostly English, who had served the crown in a civil or military role; to so-called deserving native Irish; and to such institutions as Trinity College, Dublin, and the established Church of Ireland (Anglican). It was up to the undertakers to populate their land with English and Scots and a few Welsh. They were required to plant 10 families or 24 men for every 1,000 acres they received. Scottish Low-landers were preferred over the fierce and “un-trustworthy” Highlanders, and it’s those Lowlander names we see most often among the early 18th century settlers in what are the Middle

Atlantic and Southeastern regions of what is now the United States. In general, these are the most difficult to research.

The guidelines for plantation were both theoretical and practical. Colonization had to be justified on moral and political grounds, and the king’s agents consulted the Bible for guidelines. Then practical directives had to be devised, and finding settlers wasn’t easy. Many of the undertakers ignored the rules and let native Irish (Catholics, mostly) stay on their land because somebody had to work it to make it productive. Some undertakers were specu-lators and went home after selling or abandoning their land. Others never showed up.

The plantation of Londonderry was different from that of the other five counties. Its settlers were businessmen – merchants – recruited to further the influence of the city of London in the plantation scheme. The county’s name was changed from Coleraine to Derry and eventu-ally to Londonderry to emphasize the connection to London. The Irish Society, comparable to the East India Company or the Virginia Company, ran the operation and allocated lands to 13 chief companies representing trades: cloth workers, drapers, fishmongers, goldsmiths, grocers, grocers, haberdashers, ironmongers, mercers, merchant tailors, salters, skinners and vintners. Grants to each group theoretically were for 3,210 acres, but most were much greater.

The native Irish were a hard case, and they would have said the same about the colonizers. Historian Jonathan Bardon, in The Plantation of Ulster, the British Colonisation of the North of Ireland in the 17th Century (2011), sympathized with those Irish: “Their most cherished lands and fisheries had been seized; their forests were being plundered; new fortifications rising up gave visible proof of their subjugation; their beliefs were castigated as being Romish and barbarous; and they lived in daily ex-pectation of expulsion from their native territories to make room for newcomers speaking an alien tongue, abiding by laws they hardly understood and (following) a religion they found heretical.”

That’s a strong indictment. Conflict was inevita-ble, as events prove time and time again. Some students of the era assert that without the religious division, the natives and the newcomers would have found a way to co-exist in relative harmony.


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But that was the 17th century and separation of state and church was far in the future.

For genealogists, the prominent undertakers and servitors – as expected – are fairly easy to study. Michael Perceval-Maxwell, in his 1973 book, The Scottish Migration to Ulster in the Reign of James I, lists chief and ordinary Scottish undertakers. Surnames include such popular ones as Stewart, Hamilton and Cunningham as well as such uncommon ones as Moneypenny, Smailholm, Achmutie and Wishart.

A frequently cited work, An Historical Account of the Plantation in Ulster at the Commencement of the 17th Century, 1608-1620 by the Rev. George Hall (1877), purports to list every single grantee, including native Irish. It pertains to the six es-cheated counties and is online through the catalog at FamilySearch.org and in several libraries. Philip S. Robinson’s The Plantation of Ulster: British Settlement in an Irish Landscape, 1600-1670, (1984), lists all grants made to servitors, undertak-ers, the established church, the London companies, towns and forts plus major “deserving” Irish.

Other authors on the subject include Theodore W. Moody, Robert J. Hunter, John McCavitt, Victor Treadwell and Nichols Canny. Hunter was an es-pecially prolific historian and writer, and Roulston and Bardon have published other books on the subject. The Denver Public Library owns many volumes on the Plantation, several of them donat-ed by W.I.S.E.

A final word to family historians: Be prepared for disappointment. The records are short on common people, and even if you do find your own sur-names among them, it may be impossible to iden-tify them as your ancestors. Still, studying this major milestone in the history of the British Isles will immeasurably enrich your understanding of your family and the forces that drove them to America. Never quit looking. "

Editor’s note: Read more about Ulster research in the Tech Talk article starting on page 55.

New Volunteers on Board

Two members have recently volunteered for positions at W.I.S.E; Sandra Keifer-Roberts has filled the position for the tech tips editor and

Mary Anne Larson is the new assistant newsletter editor. Find out more about Mary Anne and Sandra in the Members Profile section of this newsletter. Volunteers are still needed to fill other positions. Please read below.#

Help Wanted

W.I.S.E. Family History Society is seeking volun-teers who can fill the following positions:

Country Representative for Each British Isles Country: Searching for four people who can or-ganize fun activities and / or advocate / facilitate the needs and wants of our members in areas in-cluding, but not limited to, research and education for each individual British Isles country. Contact Allan Turner at [email protected]

England Editor: Seeking a person knowledgeable about the history, genealogy and culture of England to produce quarterly articles for our newsletter. Contact Allan Turner at [email protected] or Nyla Cartwright at [email protected] ."!

CCGS Delegate Report —Bill Hughes

The summer quarter meeting of the Colorado Council of Genealogical Societies was held on July 11, 2015, at the Pueblo City-County Library (Rawlins Library) and hosted by the Southeastern Colorado Genealogical Society. In addition to council members present in person, five members attended via GoToMeeting. All CCGS members are invited to attend council meetings in person or online.

Topics covered during this meeting included: 1. The 2015 nominating committee an-

nounced candidates to be elected at the 2015 fall council meeting. The candidates are Robert Larson of Larimer County for vice president and Judy Keilman of Denver for secretary.

2. The 2016 nominating committee is Harry Ross of Longmont (chair), Diane Barbour of Broomfield and Bill Hughes of Denver.


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3. Harry Ross made a presentation on a genealogy society management seminar as discussed at the spring quarterly meeting. A motion was approved to proceed with planning for the seminar at the Denver Public Library conference center. The large meeting room can be subdivided into three smaller rooms for concurrent ses-sions. Programs will be planned for local societies’ officers and chairmen and on topics such as projects, publishing, recruit-ing new members, social media and on fund raising. It is planned that the meet-ings will be available via GoToMeeting.

4. Volunteers for the seminar are needed, es-pecially from Longmont and the Denver area. Date will be announced later. The plan is to have no admission charge for members of council societies. Please con-tact Harry Ross at 303-772-8645. "

Colorado Springs Field Trip —Thyria Wilson

A group of W.I.S.E. members and guests met on June 27th for a tour at the Western Museum of Mining and Industry then enjoyed lunch at the Broadmoor’s Golden Bee Restaurant in Colorado Springs after the tour. We learned about mining and a great time was had by all!

This museum is well worth visiting. Our tour guide was knowledgeable and was able to add in-formation that pertained to the British Isles. We saw very large pumps and other machines that were used in hard rock mining. The drills were very loud, but fun to watch. We saw some very interesting artifacts and experienced darkness only lit by lamps. One of the highlights of the tour was

examining minerals and rocks. There were also photographs of Cripple Creek mining. Taking the tour made us want to come back and see the mu-seum in depth.!

After the mining museum we went to the Golden Bee, an English pub, for lunch. The pub has a 19th century ornate bar that was brought to Colorado Springs from England. The fish and chips, sand-wiches and pot pies were excellent. The ales flowed freely amid lively conversation. We were full and happy when we left the pub.!!

Welsh Research – Tricky but Worthwhile

— Sylvia Tracy-Doolos

The Welsh Research Seminar featuring Bert Rawlins was a wonderful success! We had a small but mighty group of W.I.S.E members and non-members come together at the Denver Public Library to learn more about the idiosyncrasies of researching in Wales. Mr. Rawlins was educated at the University of Wales – Aberystwyth, which I still cannot pronounce cor-rectly. Friday evening he joined a group of board members for dinner and regaled us with stories of his adventures in learning the Welsh language while attending school there after serving in the U.S. Army.

He opened the seminar with a primer on the Welsh language that opened our eyes to many of the unique properties of Welsh, including how the ‘dd’, ‘ff’ and ‘ll’ differ from their single character

A steam engine, built in Cornwall, England, around 1838, sits on the grounds of the Western Museum of Mining. This engine served two mines in the United States.

The group “bellying up to the bar” at the end of the tour.


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versions, and why Welsh dictionaries are especial-ly difficult to navigate.

The second session was a study of patronymics which can be particularly tricky because of the lack of an organized system for handing names down from generation to generation. He shared with us several examples from his files that point to the lack of conventions in naming patterns.

Mr. Rawlins agreed to answer questions for the group while we enjoyed our lunch, providing interesting insights into our individual difficulties. After lunch he began with church records and gave us the history plus examples from parish registers and bishops’ transcripts. He also covered the degree of non-conformity in Wales and what this means for researchers. Did you know that dur-ing the 19th century the non-conformist population of Wales rose from about 12 percent to about 77 percent. The closing session covered land tenure and he shared with us the history as well as a variety of resources and techniques for finding our ancestors. After answering a variety of questions

Allan Turner whisked him off to the airport for a 5:50 p.m. flight back to Salt Lake City.

Mr. Rawlins generously donated one of each of his booklets for the Denver Public Library’s use. He also left us several copies of his book, The Parish Churches and Nonconformist Chapels of Wales, for purchase ($24), plus a full set of his booklets that can be copied for anyone interested. These include: Civil Registration in England and Wales - 1837 to the Present - ($7), Effective Use of Bishop’s Transcripts ($2.50), Church Records – Parish Registers ($4) and Economic, Religious, and Social Change in Industrial South Wales ($4).

We hope to offer a program in the first quarter of 2016 to share what we have learned about Welsh research and the resources and techniques that will aid our membership."

W.I.S.E. Booth at the Colorado Irish Festival a Success

—Bill Hughes

W.I.S.E. volunteers again did an excellent and professional job in operating the genealogy booth at the 2015 Colorado Irish Festival held July 10-12, 2015. We received many accolades from the fair organizers and the festival attendees. One of the fair organizers felt the genealogy booth was one of the “anchors of the festival” and the direc-tor of the Cultural Village said our genealogy booth “was the Cultural Village.”!

The enthusiasm, knowledge and empathy shown by the volunteers resonated with the festival attendees. Nine presentations covering the

Festival attendees outside the W.I.S.E. genealogy booth.

Bert Rawlins shares Welsh research tips with the audience.


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Irish famine, Irish history and Irish in the Civil War proved to be popular with the festival attendees. Marylee Hagen gave four presentations and developed a special presentation for children!entitled Passport to America. Children attending that presentation took home Irish pass-port mementos.

In summary, we counseled hundreds of fair attendees, distributed 300 W.I.S.E. brochures and answered hundreds of questions. Please consider volunteering for the 2016 Colorado Irish Festival, scheduled for July 8-10, 2016. Thanks to Madonna Adams, Kendra Elrod, Marylee Hagen, Debbie Harrison, Milly Jones, Megan Koepsell, Susie Kozoh, Eileen Langdon, Marilyn Lyle, John Manion, Kate O’Kami, Sandy Ronayne, Steve Saul, Nancy Tanner, Sylvia Tracy-Doolos, Thyria Wilson and Christine Wright. "

Get Your English On! — Sylvia Tracy-Doolos

As we celebrate with our British cousins as Queen Elizabeth II took the lead as the longest reigning British monarch on September 10, 2015, let’s look at all the ways we can join in the festivities from this side of the pond. Whether you prefer a posh private affair, a proper tea offer-ing a variety of delicacies or a pub crawl with a pint or two, you can find an appropriate way to

celebrate with our British brethren in and around central Colorado. If you’re looking for a place to have a scone or hobnob and a “cuppa tea” why not get a group together and stop by one of the tea rooms in the area: In Denver stop by The House of Commons - an English Tearoom on 15th Street and Denver Tea Room & Coffee Salon on South Broadway. If you’re out toward Aurora try The English Tea-cup on South Havana. In Parker visit the English Tealeaves on Main Street. If you’re in Littleton, Mrs. B’s Tea Parlor on West Alamo Avenue or the Serendipi-TEA Shoppe on South Curtice might tempt your taste buds. Boulderites can stop into the The Dushanbe Tea House on 13th Street. From Boulder, head down the Denver-Boulder Turnpike to Broomfield and to The Wildflowers Tea Room on Metro Airport Road. Heading south to Castle Rock, the Augustine Grill on Wilcox offers an elegant tea once or twice a month. West of Denver in Georgetown visit the Dusty Rose Tea Room on Rose Street. If you’re in Colorado Springs, high tea is served at Miramont Castle, actually in Manitou Springs, and Glen Eyrie Castle as well as at a Saturday after-noon tea at the Broadmoor. This, of course, is not an exhaustive list of British tea shops in central Colorado; and we would love to hear about your favorites on the W.I.S.E Family History Society Facebook page.

If you can’t get to one of the tea shops you can invite a few chums to your house and make a batch of homemade hobnobs or scones. The recipe for Homemade Hob Nobs says they “are stogged full of oats.” You can pair this with a viewing par-ty for the final season of “Downton Abbey” be-ginning in the U.K. in September and airing in January 2016 on our local PBS stations. While we await season six we can enjoy repeats of seasons one through five. (You know you are looking for a reason to watch them again!) If your celebration style is more pub crawl than high tea you could start with Pints Pub on West 13th Avenue, just a block from the Denver Public Library, or the The British Bulldog on Stout Street

Children busy at work during the Passport to America presentation given by Marylee Hagen.


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where you can also watch U.K. soccer, or Argyll Whisky Beer – A Gastropub on East 17th Avenue. There are many British Isles style pubs in Colorado to choose from, and we all have our local favorites. One last way to capture the feeling may be to join with the Daughters of the British Empire (DBE) as they host their annual tea, raffle and bazaar on October 17, 2015, at the First Plymouth Congrega-tional Church in Cherry Hills Village. This fund-raiser is in support of local charities as well as the DBE British Home. Another organization to con-nect with is the Denver branch of the English-Speaking Union of the United States. Their September program has not been announced as I write this but they offer a variety of activities, both educational and cultural.

As commemorate this milestone in British history we can take pride in our heritage and find some small way to add a bit of English culture to our day. I challenge everyone to join our Facebook page and add a post or a picture to salute Queen Elizabeth II. "

Tech Talk —Sandra Keifer-Roberts

The Scots-Irish Keifers: It might sound funny, but revisiting my German (Keifer) ancestry this summer has given me the opportunity to become immersed in Scots-Irish history. In the 1770s, my Keifer ancestor apparently left the German Presby-terian community and melted into a Scots-Irish area of Pennsylvania. Always a hopeless romantic, I imagine that a handsome German man fell in love with a beautiful Scots-Irish girl! Their chil-dren and grandchildren did not return to the Ger-man community and became more Scots-Irish with each generation.

The Irish Genealogy Toolkit contains useful links to various sites and databases. If the newly digit-ized National Library of Ireland collection of Roman Catholic parish registers doesn’t support your research, you can always check the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI), which concentrates on – but isn’t limited to – the counties of modern Northern Ireland – Antrim, Armagh, Derry, Down, Fermanagh and Tyrone. PRONI advises anxious researchers to remain

calm: while the Church of Ireland registers that were destroyed “often contain(ed) baptisms, mar-riages and burials of Protestant dissenters and Roman Catholics who were baptized, married or buried within the state church,” the catastrophe “must not be exaggerated.” On its page titled, “My Top 10 Free Irish Genealogy Databases Online,” The Irish Genealogy Toolkit explains that PRONI contains “details of those who signed the Ulster Covenant (1912), records of pre-1840 Freeholders, and the first phase of the Will Calendars (1858-1900) project.” Schools records and the revised Griffith’s Valuation are also included.

Ulster-Scots: Unfortunately, I still don’t know if my ancestors were Irish or Ulster-Scots, but I’m getting warmer. Ask about Ireland, supported by the Department of the Environment, Community

and Local Government of Ire-land, continually adds infor-mation from Irish libraries and provides a useful online intro-duction to Ulster’s history and the origin of the Ulster-Scots. Researchers can use this gen-eral information to search for clues and build a strong ar-

gument in the absence of concrete evidence. Scots-Irish in Pennsylvania: Temple University Press offers an illuminating chapter excerpt from Dennis Clark’s book, The Irish in Philadelphia. I’m researching two men from different families who supposedly came from Ulster and arrived be-fore 1776. Researchers usually need to confirm the county of origin in U.S. documents in order to ef-fectively search through Irish collections. In addi-tion to records posted at FamilySearch.org and Ancestry.com, the PA Roots site offers some great resources for tracking down ancestors who settled in Pennsylvania, including county-level infor-mation. The Pennsylvania Archives on Google Books helped me trace one of these men to service in the Revolutionary War. According to The Ulster-Scots Society, “Ulstermen played a major role during the American War of Independ-ence. . . .Twenty-five of the American generals were of Ulster-Scots descent as was half of the revolutionary army. One famous force of regular soldiers was the Pennsylvania Line and it was composed almost entirely of Ulster-Scots and the sons of Ulster-Scots.”


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In addition to The Historic Pittsburgh Digital Library, which contains searchable books with biographies and court records (one such record helped me determine that the one of the men I’m looking for left two orphaned children), the “Pastor Lischy” files and other church records on Ancestry.com are a gold mine. Search by county—of course, search adjacent counties, too. These collections are also linked to Cyndi’s List, Pennsylvania counties. This data helped me con-firm that the first Keifer to marry a Scots-Irish woman was a Presbyterian, so it is likely she was a Presbyterian, too. According to The Ulster-Scots Society, religious affiliation is another clue in fa-vor of the Ulster-Scots origin, but of course, it’s no guarantee. If for no other reason than their place of residence, I’ve had suspicions that at some point, my ancestors belonged to the Society of Friends; however, one fought in the Civil War, which makes Quaker affiliation unlikely (not im-possible). Cyndi’s List and Ancestry.com offer links to quite a few Quaker records, and Quaker membership is another important clue.

Vogue: Sometimes clothing can provide clues about national origin, economic status, and religion. I enjoy using She Knows and Fashion Detective to help with old photos. Browse

photos by period (Victorian, etc.) or decade. Pinterest is also one of my favorite places to search for photos and information about vintage clothing. A picture of an embroidered jacket is worth a thousand words."

The Great Hunger —Thyria Wilson

One hundred seventy years ago, the great tragedy occurred in Ireland. There was mass starvation, disease and exile (emigration). There had been potato crop failures in Ireland before, beginning in the 1700s. But the potato crop failures of 1845-1850 were coupled with actions of the British gov-ernment and created the Great Hunger, also known as the Great Famine. Approximately one million Irish died and over one million immigrated during the famine years, most to the United States. The Great Hunger was a watershed moment and after-wards Ireland’s social life and culture were never the same. Before and during the famine the agents of the mostly absent English landholders split the tenan-cies into smaller and smaller tenancies in order to increase rent. The tenant farmers were at the mercy of the landlords and the farmers’ holdings became so small that only potatoes could be grown to feed a family. Beef and milk had started to disappear from the peasants’ diet. Potatoes were the sole source of food for one-half of the rural population. In September of 1845, the potato blight in Europe reached Ireland and much of the crop was “black as soot.” In 1846, there was more widespread blight and the tragedy was made much worse by the British response. In The Great Calamity: The Irish Famine 1845-52 by Christine Kinealy and in The Graves are Walk-ing: The Great Famine and the Saga of the Irish People by John Kelly, the authors demonstrate that the famine was neither inevitable nor unavoidable. The relief effort was woefully mismanaged and the official responses were influenced by laissez faire theories of economics and prejudice against the Irish. The British government saw the famine as an opportunity to bring about long-sought eco-nomic and social changes. The famine was used to eliminate small tenancies. Large commercial sys-

Sandra’s great-great-grandmother in her fashionable Zouave jacket, circa 1854.


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tems of farming were introduced. As Kelly states, it was the worst disaster of the 19th century; a “per-fect storm of bacterial infection, political greed, and religious intolerance sparked this catastrophe.” The British treasurer, Charles Trevelyan, believed that Ireland was like a prodigal son who has to be brought under parental control. “The great evil, with which we have to contend, is not the physical evil of the famine, but the moral evil of the selfish, perverse, and turbulent character of the Irish peo-ple,” he is quoted as saying. Most people in Britain, even the liberals, thought the Irish were lazy, violent and products of a degenerate race and religion. It was God’s judgment on an indolent, hard-drinking, sinful people. There was a financial downturn in Britain during 1846 and 1847, and relief was given to deserving recipients in England and Scotland, not to the undeserving Irish. In 1847, the British government considered the famine to be over, despite tragic evidence to the contrary. The British government also decided that famine relief should become a local responsibility, not add to the national debt. But in the counties with the most victims suffering, the local authori-ties lacked the resources to support the starving poor, even in the workhouses. Artist James Mahoney was sent by the Illustrated London News to Cork to report on the famine. He reported that there was “either a funeral or a coffin every 100 yards.” The emaciated peo-ple were trying to live on grass and nettles. The famine continued.

There was already an inadequate response from the British government and the mostly absentee landlords and after 1847; the minimal relief efforts essentially disappeared. The policy was that local resources had to be completely depleted before relief would be forthcoming from the Irish Relief Commission. Even if relief was finally granted, there were delays in the relief delivery and the food lacked enough nutrients to keep people from starving. In earlier famines in Ireland, stopping exports of food from Ireland was part of the successful response. During the Famine, no restrictions were put on food leaving Ireland. Corn was to be sold at market prices. Cheap corn was purchased from America, but the coarse, unground grains tore up the stomachs of the famine victims. Coun-

ty Donegal saw little excess mortality and emigra-tion in 1847 because the local landlords and merchants did support the relief effort. Lord George Hill flouted the Corn Laws and sold corn at low prices. Under the transfer of Poor Law relief in 1847, the use of eviction was made much easier. It became an efficient way for a landlord to lower his poor rate. In Strokestown, County Roscommon, Major Denis Mahon inherited a 9,000-acre property just as the famine broke out. There were 12,000 ten-ants, most on three acres or less and most behind on rents. His agent urged that it was cheaper to send most of the tenants to Canada than to main-tain them in the workhouse. The tenants were sent off in four ships, two of them “coffin ships.” Many of the families were lost at sea or died of disease in Canada. My great-great-grandparents, James Moolick and Honora (Oney) Doyle, lived within two miles of each other in County Roscommon. James wrote his Roscommon address in The History of Ireland, Ancient and Modern that he purchased in Seneca County, New York: “James Moolick, Cartron, Par-ish of Killuokin.” He and his brother Thomas were produce dealers. Honora Doyle wrote her address in her prayer book: “Cloonfad More Aughrim Par-ish.” According to baptismal records, her parents were John Doyle and Mary Owens. The Doyles in County Roscommon were gallowglasses, mercenary warriors. Most of the Moolicks and Doyles from County Roscommon immigrated to Canada in the first years of the Famine. However, some members of the families appear in Ireland in the Value of Ten-ements in 1857. By 1850, the Moolick and Doyle immigrants were in Seneca County, New York. James Moolick, who became a naturalized citizen in 1855, was a stonemason who built bridges. Four sons were born to James and Honora Moolick in Seneca County, New York. The one story about Honora is that when she caught her young sons tossing baby chicks into the air to see if they could fly, she yelled, “I’ll hang ye, I’ll hang ye all!”

Most of the immigrants to the United States during the Famine years were unskilled laborers, some of whom did not speak English. Many settled in the urban centers, but many moved west with the country. They built the bridges, canals


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and railroads to connect the vast territory of the United States. So many Irish were killed working on the railroad that it was speculated that there was an Irishman buried under every tie. The James Moolick family moved to the coal min-ing area in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. James Moolick was listed in the 1870 census as a laborer, unlike the other men on the page who were miners. In 1871, the family homestead-ed in Saunders County, Nebraska and built a small house that is now the kitchen of a two-story farmhouse.

My great-grandfather, Michael Moolick, was the second son born to James and Honora Moolick. In 1876, Mike was a freighter and went to the Black Hills of South Dakota on the hurricane deck of a four-mule team. He then homesteaded in Knox County, Nebraska, and became a frontier blacksmith.

After my great-grandmother died in childbirth, he took his three daughters and moved to Norfolk, Nebraska, to work as a blacksmith for the railroad. The famine was a great tragedy, but became a hopeful story in America. There are millions of Americans today who descend from the survi-vors of the famine and we are truly blessed with our heritage. !

The Scottish Clearances —Diane Barbour, PLCGS

For those of you familiar with Scottish history, the Clearances of the late 1700s and early 1800s can elicit a emotional response. Precipitating events of one of the more tragic periods in Scotland’s histo-ry began about 200 hundred years earlier. In 1603 the union of the Scottish and English thrones oc-curred when Elizabeth I died leaving no heirs and the English throne went to King James VI of Scotland. In actuality the two countries continued to be two independent sovereign states sharing the king or the crown. One hundred years later two more unionizing acts were passed. In 1706 the Union with Scotland Act was passed by the Eng-lish Parliament, while in 1707 the Union with England Act was passed by the Scottish Parlia-ment. This in fact united Ireland, Scotland and England as one entity called Great Britain. Practi-cally Scotland and England were one country. The Jacobite defeat in 1746 at the Battle of Culloden provided the English an opportunity to destroy the Highland clan system. Some Highland clans had supported Charles Edward Stuart in at-tempting to retrieve the English crown from the Hanover family and return it to the Stuart family. At Culloden the English defeated the Scottish clans and punitive measures were put into effect to punish them. The clans were outlawed. Members were no longer allowed to carry weapons or wear their tartans. There was by this time an already strong English influence in Scotland and many of the landed lords who held land in Scotland sided with the English in this battle. Those who support-ed the Hanoverians were highly compensated after the Battle at Culloden while those supporting Charles Edward Stuart were stripped of their es-tates, which were sold. Many of these estates were managed by “factors” who were more interested in

Thyria’s great-grandfather, Michael Moolick, shoeing a horse at his blacksmith shop.

Thyria’s 2nd great-grandparents, James and wife, Honora, seated middle and right, second row, with their family around 1868 in Pennsylvania.


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profit than the hereditary chief had been. It is on this stage that the Highland Clearances began. The Clearances started about 1780 and continued until about 1880. However, there were a few clearances before 1780 and a few after 1880. They lasted for about 100 years. It was a terrible time for the small tenant farmers in the northern areas of Scotland, known as the Highlands.

Many of these families had held their land for cen-turies under a system of Gaelic culture with their own Gaelic language. Of course, the English who held land in Scotland felt these people were inferi-or: poor and lazy, not intelligent and a little less than human. The Saxon tribes were considered to be superior to the the Celtic tribes. Language bar-riers added to the misunderstanding and disre-spect. These folks had held their leases for centuries, honed their farming skills and created their own uniquely Scottish culture, headed by clan chieftains who protected their clan members and provided men for battle when the country went to war. Many of these farmers were brave soldiers in many of England’s wars with other countries. The relationship between these farmers and their lords who held the land for so long de-clined around the mid-1700s. As more English became land owners they brought the factors in to run their estates. These factors did not have long- standing relationships with the farmers and were mostly interested in making the land more profita-ble and the estates more economically stable, with no emotional tie or allegiance to the culture.

Scotland operated under a feudal system where traditionally the land was given to the nobles by the king and the land owner’s income was derived by renting the land to farmers. Eventually, a few sheep were brought in by one estate, which was very profitable. Other factors and land owners no-ticed that sheep farming seemed a more efficient way to manage the land. At about this same time there had been a couple of famines in which the Gaelic families had become destitute and required care from the estates. The general population in-crease taxed the already strained resources of the meager Highland land and the estates saw the sheep as a relatively easy and profitable alterna-tive. An industry based on the production of wool began to take shape. Wool produced in the High-lands was shipped to the Lowlands and to factories

that were being built as the Industrial Revolution began. Many of these factories were involved in cloth production. The meat produced from the sheep also provided food for the many workers employed in these factories. The Clearances are seen from two different as-pects and that does color one’s reaction to them. They are seen by one side as a very cruel and in-humane occurrence that denied the historical rights of a culture and its people. This assumes they were a greedy attempt by the already wealthy landed aristocracy to increase their incomes and power. It is true that many cruel events happened as the families were removed from the land. It did devas-tate the Gaelic culture and clan society along with the language. These were aspects of the group that made the English landlords fearful. If the High-landers rose up against the landlords, they could be a dangerous entity to their positions. Therefore, many of the families were removed from their homes and livelihood without notice and marched to a town or a strip of land along the coastline. The thought was that a booming fishing industry could be developed by these people. However, they were farmers, not fishermen and there was no attempt to provide them with even meager hous-ing. They were exposed to the brutal climate along the northern coastline of Scotland. Houses and farms were burned to keep the farmers from re-turning. Many of the older and incapacitated peo-ple were unable to save themselves and were put in the open to die. Not all of the Clearances were of this nature. Some land owners felt sympathy for the families and provided them more time and were more patient in removing them from the land. It was like an evolu-tionary tide that once started could not be stopped. Many moved to the cities to find employment. At this time the local parishes were responsible for the welfare of many of these families and saw em-igration as a means of the ridding themselves of a long-term expense. Many of the displaced emi-grated to Canada and America. Many moved to the Lowlands and found employment in the facto-ries. Some stayed on the land and paid the ever increasing rents, called rack renting. There was no protection for the farmers under Scottish law and thus they were subject to the whim of the landlord. The Crofters Act of 1886 finally gave crofters her-itable security of tenure and tenant farmers, con-


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trolled rents. It did not return the land already tak-en. It was not until 1976 that crofters were allowed to buy their own farms.

Others saw this as a natural-occurring shift in the economy from small farming to more efficient use of land and the shift to manufacturing, which was happening all over Europe. Enclosure had oc-curred in England. Population was increasing eve-rywhere, which made it necessary to find better ways to increase production to feed these new people. It was a system by which society could no longer thrive. Author’s Notes: In preparation for writing this ar-ticle I read two books. The History of the Highland Clearances1

was written closer to the time of the events, as are many county histories. It is com-prised of letters written by descendants who emi-grated and articles and pamphlets of the time. Two entire chapters are devoted to the notorious Suth-erland clearances in the early 1800s, and the trial of Patrick Seller, their proctor, who was indicted but not convicted of culpable homicide for his ac-tions during the Clearances.

The second book that I read was Highland Clear-ances2 written by Eric Richards in 2012. Written a hundred years after History of the Highland Clearances, it provides a different perspective of the clearances from a distance in time. I was able to download both books from Amazon.

There are many websites that have information relating to this topic. One I really liked is Educa-tion Scotland www.educationscotland.gov.uk.

I have taken four driving vacations to the Scottish Highlands. The picture that I took on one of these

trips is typical of the Highlands, picturing aban-doned crofter houses and little burned out crofter villages and communities. My brother and I trav-elled down single-lane roads where you could see them almost everywhere. As a proud Scot myself, I must say that the demise of the clan society and these people tug at my heart. Change is inevitable, as we can see even in our own society today but to see it done so cruelly is unforgivable.

What topic about Scotland would you like me to cover in these articles? Contact me at [email protected]. 1MacKenzie, Alexander, The History of The Highland Clear-ances by Alexander MacKenzie, F.S.A., Scot., With a New Introduction by Ian McPherson, M.P., second edition, altered and revised (Glasgow, Scotland: P.J. O’Callaghan, 1914). 2Richards, Eric, Highland Clearances (Edinburgh, Scotland: Birlinn Limited, ebook, 2012). !

Book Reviews

Diplomat’s Ireland Books Wind Up at DPL

The Denver Public Library’s genealogy collection has been enriched with the addition of about 75 books concentrating on Ireland from the estate of a onetime member of the American dip-lomatic service, William D. O’Ryan. Most were published in the late 19th and early to mid-20th century and cover such topics as military history, alumni directories and parish histories. O’Ryan served in such places as The Hague, Netherlands; Ethiopia, Germany and Ireland. Here are summaries of two of his books now in the collection.

Aubrey Gwynn, S.J., and Dermot F. Gleeson, A History of the Diocese of Killaloe, Dublin: M.H. Gill and Son Ltd., 1962. The diocese – Roman Catholic – is mostly in County Clare, and this his-tory covers the medieval church until the Refor-mation, generally 1535. Aubrey Gwinn concentrated on the early period, Dermot Gleeson the later time.

It caught my attention because I recognized the diocese as the point of origin of one set of my husband’s Famine immigrant ancestors, the Hanrahan family. They came from the parish of Kilfarboy, and the index sent me straight away to


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the parish and to the family – called O’Hanrahan here. Kilfarboy on the western edge of the diocese, I learned, has had the same boundaries for at least 1,000 years. That nugget of information could help my research at some point.

Two ecclesiastical characters surnamed Hanrahan appear in some events of 1440s and 1450s. The pope in 1443 had named one Thadeus O’Hanrahan to head a religious house after removing one Donatus O’Cuinn who had assumed the post with the death of Nicholas O’Grady aka Nicholas Medonios. O’Hanrahan at first had the backing of the O’Gradys, but in a few years one Henry O’Grady claimed O’Hanrahan “had committed perjury and other crimes,” and pushed for his ouster and installation of a member of his family. O’Hanrahan survived that attack, but in 1463, an O’Cuinn got into the act, accusing O’Hanrahan of celebrating Mass while excommu-nicated. Gleeson found nothing to tell us exactly what happened then, though evidence apparently showed that O’Hanrahan prevailed and in 1479, another O’Hanrahan (Maurice) was tied to some financial dealings in the same parish. However, Gleeson does point out that the events give us insight into life of a religious house of the 15th century as self-serving churchmen relied on nepotism and other nefarious methods to sub-vert the purpose of Christianity – saving souls.

There’s no way of ever knowing whether these O’Hanrahans had any connection to my husband’s family, but still, this places the lovely name of Hanrahan in the right place in the folds of Irish history.

Gleeson, summarizing the history of the diocese, recognized the frailty of the medieval church, but took the long view: “Our history thus represents here in Ireland the story of the survival of the divinely instituted Church despite the legacy left by original sin in so many of its members,” he wrote. “The heartening story of that survival in the diocese of Killaloe remains to be told in an-other volume.” That never happened, but there is an earlier history of the diocese, published in 1878. It’s entitled The Diocese of Killaloe from the Reformation to the Close of the 18th Century by Philip Dwyer, and it’s also in the DPL genealogy collection as a gift from William D. O’Ryan’s estate.

Trinity College, author; edited by George D Burtchell and Thomas U. Sadleir, Alumni Dublinenses: A Register for the Students, Graduates . . of Trinity College . . 1593-1860, Dublin: Alex. Thom & Co., 1935. This exhaustive, 1,000-plus page volume is a masterful bit of work inspired by a genealogist and assembled by a pair of scholar-academics who saw the value in tran-scribing the admissions records of Trinity College in Dublin over 276 years. They include sparse but valuable genealogical information including the student’s birthplace, father’s name and position/occupation, years enrolled, prep school or teacher, sometimes a clue to later residence or status. The names are listed in alphabetical order, a total of about 35,000. Editor Sadleir describes the process and the frustrations involved in compiling this book over nine years. For instance, sorting names often was problematic: two boys named Arthur Pyne O’Callaghan enrolled on the same day. It was not an error – they were cousins.

Predictably, the students were from the privileged classes and mostly Protestant. Gaelic and Irish surnames are uncommon so I was not surprised to find no clues to any of my or my husband’s Irish ancestors, though I found some of their family names. Later, I took the search in a different direc-tion by checking the surnames of our families’ landlords in Counties Monaghan and Louth. Lappins were tenants on the Madden estate in County Monaghan in the early 1800s, and I learned that two of the family – apparently broth-ers – had been enrolled at Trinity. They were Charles Dudley Madden and John Madden, both born in Monaghan, sons of Samuel Madden, a gentleman. Both were 18 when they enrolled, Charles in 1802 at age 18, and John a year earlier.

My ancestors’ landlords in County Louth were members of the Fortescue family, and 14 of them who were born in Louth attended Trinity over the years. (Several others were born in Dublin and

elsewhere.) William Henry, who enrolled in 1738-39 at age 18, was my family’s landlord in 1776-77 when he became Lord Clermont.

Aside from page after page of names and brief biographies, the book gives us insight into the life of the Irish upper classes in those days. Students for the most part were the sons of prominent men and editor Sadleir tells this story of how they


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didn’t mind puffing and bluffing: The Register of St. John’s College, Cambridge, called student Horne Tooke’s father a pullarius (a dealer in poul-try or poulterer). But at Trinity, his son declared his dad was “an eminent Turkey Merchant.”

The editors provided us with another insight into aristocratic Ireland of the past that they may not even have recognized: Not one of the 35,000 stu-dents was a woman, and I found no reference to even a mother in the brief biographies. Only men were educated; only their paternal lineage was noted.

A sampling of other titles in the new Irish collec-tion: A Census of Ireland Circa 1659, with Supplementary Material from the Poll Money Ordinances (1660-1661), by Seamus Pender, published in Dublin, 1939.

Journal of the American Irish Society in five volumes, 1927-1937, lists of members.

History of the Irish Brigade in the Service of France by John Cornelius O’Callaghan, published in Glasgow, 1925.

History of the Town and County of Wexford, Old and New Ross edited by Philip Herbert Hore, from the pa-pers of Herbert F. Hore, London, 1900.

Extent of Irish Monastic Possessions 1540-1541 edited by Newport A. White, Dublin, 1943.

Burke’s 1958 Landed Gentry of Ireland.

The Diocese of Limerick from 1692 to the Present Time, by John Archdeacon Begley, Dublin, 1938.

The Jesuits 1584-1921; History of the Society of Jesus from Its Foundation to the Present Time by Thomas J. Campbell S.J., New York, 1921

–Zoe von Ende Lappin!

It’s Time to Advance Your Welsh Research It is back-to-school days, a favorite time of the year in Colorado. We are enjoying the crisp fra-grance of fallen leaves, the deep blue sky, the great pumpkin and the morning dew on wing and web. Are you ready to advance to a new level of Welsh genealogy? After this July’s seminar you may feel ready for the challenge. Let’s look at a deep dive into Second Stages in Researching Welsh Ancestry. This hardback book, published in 1999, is easily carried in one hand and is available in the genealogy section of

the Denver Public Library to help you navigate your way. The editors are John and Sheila Rowlands, widely known Welsh genealogists. It was published in the United Kingdom by the Federation of Family His-tory Societies Ltd. in conjunction with the Department of Continuing Education at the Uni-versity of Wales, Aberystwyth. It also was pub-lished in the U.S. by the Genealogical Publishing Co. of Baltimore.

The frontispiece is a lovely portrait of Mrs. Ellen Lloyd of Ty Newydd, Llannor, Wales, painted by Hugh Hughes in 1845. Mrs. Lloyd looks like a friendly sort with whom I would enjoy a hot cup of tea by the fire of a stone cottage like the draw-ing on page 328.

There are 22 chapters which I will discuss. There are 52 figures, tables and appendices that include maps, drawings and photographs to support the text. The chapters read like stories covering a wide range of subjects that genealogists will find help-ful: religious groups including Catholics and nonconformists; urban growth and industriali-zation; personalities in coal and lead mining. Chapter 8 introduces genealogical strategies. A person could study a single chapter if the content is of interest.

What might you find interesting? How to read old documents? Sources for surname studies? Sources of surnames in Wales? Ordinary people in the rec-ords of the great estates? An introduction to maps of Wales for family historians? The national mon-uments record of Wales? How to use Peter Bar-trum’s Welsh Genealogies? A delicious mixed marmalade of choices!

Are your reading glasses tuned up? Chapter 16 covers significant family histories: the Vaughns of Trawsgoed; the Pugh family of Llanfair Llanbedr 1775-1900; the Lloyds of Ty Newydd of North Wales; Morris Reignald, gentleman sheep farmer in North Cardiganshire; Titus Jones of Llanfihan-gel-ar-arth; Baron Lewis Owen of Dolgellau and his descendants. The authors’ ambition in studying a specific family tree was to relate the family to the growth or descent of the estate to indicate the relationship of the estate to the social, economic and political landscape. The impact of a promi-nent family was in enormous contrast to that of


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non-landowning, working people who left but lit-tle imprints on the landscape.

Chapter 17 discusses the emergence and rise of a bilingual native middle class in the 18th and 19th centuries, a period of significant social change in rural society. The farm workers, laborers, domestic servants of a mainly pastoral society began to challenge the established order of squire and parson. New opportunities became clear for the emerging middle class, spurred on by economic developments in mining and maritime trade, and among shopkeepers, tradesmen and cattle drovers. All of these developments are composited in the story of the Rev. William Pugh and family, 1750-1845, of Llanfair. The local per-spective of this study tended to broaden out throughout Wales. The book has an extensive bibliography, the chap-ters are extensively footnoted and there’s a thor-ough alphabetical index. The chapter on how to read old documents I found to be particularly in-teresting and practical. The writing in old docu-ments can be unfamiliar. The study of old handwriting, i.e. paleography, is sufficient to deci-pher many old documents. The authors analyze illustrations of old handwriting, emphasizing the need to be careful and systematic.

The book has 17 named contributing authors, all educators, all associated with the University of Wales, and that is why it feels like a good book for back-to-school days. Is it time to put down the tea cup and immerse yourself in your country of origin? This book is rich with information, guid-ance and challenges like a buttery, nutty, fruity, chocolatey scone and begs us to dig in.

—Nancy McCurdy"

Member Profiles

Mary Anne Larson is looking forward to helping Nyla Cartwright as assistant newsletter editor for W.I.S.E. She grew up on a dairy farm in north-west Kansas and moved to Golden in 1990, where she met and married her hus-

band, Chris Roger, in 1992. After working for a few years for the Golden office of a gold mining company based out of New York City, Mary has been employed in the legal office at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory since 1994.

The genealogy bug bit Mary early in the 1990s when her husband mentioned that he didn’t know anything about his ancestry except that his grandfather was born in Lonmay, Scotland. Since then, she’s traced his paternal ancestry back to the early 1700s in Aberdeenshire, and his maternal ancestry to early Santa Fe, New Mexico, in the late 1600s. Her parents’ ancestry is from Sweden (Larson), Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire in England and Glamorgan in Wales, making W.I.S.E. a perfect fit. Mary’s mother was born in a sod house in northwest Kansas in 1927; and her father, born in northwest Kansas in 1924, is a surviving U.S. Navy veteran of World War II.

When she’s not researching Scottish, English or Welsh ancestry, Mary enjoys cooking and plan-ning the trips that she and Chris have taken. They’ve visited several countries in North America and South America, as well as traveling to Scotland. Usually, their travel involves at least one genealogy trip to a cemetery or library, and her husband, Chris, has gamely trooped along with her (although she says he’s much more cooperative with a cemetery visit than a visit to a library or archive). Mary also enjoys traveling to RootsTech and National Genealogical Society conferences when possible, and she’s been a member of W.I.S.E. since 2012. During retirement, she plans to obtain her genealogy certi-fication and continue her genealogy research. "

Sandra Keifer-Roberts became interested in genealogy at the age of 11, when her grandfather decided to retrieve his moth-er’s family record and journal from his dusty, cluttered attic. Years later, when online genealogy was in its infancy,

Sandra rediscovered the information in this journal and began to connect with distant cousins.


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Through this experience, she learned that hand-written genealogy accounts often teach us more about the writers themselves than the people they are writing about. In her family’s precious book, verifiable facts are nestled comfortably beside glaring inaccuracies.

Sandra has earned two master’s degrees: M.A., English, and M.S., computer information systems. After working in technology for many years, she left the corporate world in order to pursue free-lance work and indulge her passion for writing. An adjunct instructor of English composition and technology for various local colleges, Sandra uses her spare time to research and write. Her hus-band, a Yorkshireman, and her two college-age

sons enthusiastically support her activities. She is overwhelmed by the volume of her own writing material, but tries to find time to help others write their stories, too. Recently, in addition to helping clients with genealogy or generic technology ques-

tions, she’s been interviewing, recording, tran-scribing and publishing the stories of their elderly family members.

As genealogy enthusiasts, we know the thrill of the hunt and the frustration of defeat. We’re dreamers who want to travel in time; we’re detec-tives who stubbornly refuse to sleep if we’re clutching an important new clue. Sandra’s passion for genealogy has led her on an action-packed journey full of witch trials, Revolutionary War battles, Civil War escapes, illegal immigration, scarlet fever epidemics, unlikely marriages, mysterious disappearances, Huguenots, scholars, physicians, businessmen, farmhands, royalty and common ancestors for her parents. Like many other researchers, Sandra enjoys celebrating new discoveries by pausing to read historical accounts and imagining what life was like for her ancestors. "

W.I.S.E. Program Schedule

September 26, 2015 1:30 p.m.

Denver Public Library 7th Floor

Understanding the British Army Ed Storey

Ed Storey will share insights about the British Army and discuss guidelines to re-searching its records. He has been writing for genealogical magazines for over 10 years and has researched in India, Germany and England. !

October 11-18, 2015 Family History Library

Salt Lake City

Annual Research Trip Contact Sandy Breed, [email protected], with any questions. !

October 24, 2015 1:30 p.m.

Denver Public Library 7th floor

World War I Heirloom Sharing Program Members will share their World War I heirlooms and stories relating to their family members from the British Isles.!

December 5, 2015 1:30 p.m.


The Front Range Druid Players Present Tales from the Medieval Welsh Mabinogion Join us for our holiday meeting, bring British Isles treats and enjoy the performance.!

January 23, 2016 1:30 p.m.


Annual General Meeting and Heirloom Sharing !

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Documents

Making Sense of the Plantation of Ulster...Making Sense of the Plantation of Ulster –continued from page 47 The six escheated (or confiscated) counties to be planted were Armagh,